Think Not How Far

Think not how far we have to go,how far we’ve come; it saps the strength,melts the will. It’s better not to knowthe breadth and height and lengthof all that’s still ahead.Who wants to learn one’s end?What will be, what would have been – weigh like lead.Past offenses change not, cannot mend.Better to proceed by little stepswithin your range; no sweat, regret, no strain;blanking out dramatic heights and depthsthe thought of chasms, rough terrain. Time then to see God’s downward bending to share the journey and the ending.

Source: “Think Not How Far” from Poems from the Eighth Decade, by Harold
Macdonald. 2004.